UMTV Web Brief 5/31 Missionaries

Welcome to UMTV’s Web Brief, I’m Reed Galin.

Disciple, follower, messenger … such words are sometimes used to define missionaries, who hear a spiritual call to reach out to others. Bill and Dirk Van Gorp are pedaling hard to answer such a calling. Father and son are on a 10,000-mile bike tour to support United Methodist mission projects. We met them in Kentucky, four weeks in.

IF LIFE IS A JOURNEY, PICTURE IT AT 12 MILES AN HOUR …

Bill Van Gorp: “So far, we’ve ridden our bikes about 1,470 miles and that would leave us with a really long way to go.”

FOR SIX MONTHS, THIS FATHER-SON TEAM WILL CRISS-CROSS THE COUNTRY, HOPING TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS OF UNITED METHODIST MISSION WORK.

Dirk Van Gorp: “Your mission field might be being a teacher or a youth leader or helping the family next door.”

DIRK VAN GORP HAS BEEN MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS, HELPING BUILD HOUSES IN ZAIRE, REFUGEE SETTLEMENTS IN BOSNIA. HIS SON WOULD OFTEN JOIN HIM IN THE SUMMER.

Bill Van Gorp: “You really get the opportunity to be in peoples' lives and help them and to help change their lives.”

MISSION TRIPS MEANT EXTENDED TIME AWAY FROM FAMILY AND TIME IS A BANDIT WHEN YOU HAVE CHILDREN. VAN GORP HOPES THIS JOURNEY WILL RECLAIM SOME OF THAT LOST TIME.

Dirk Van Gorp: “The best part is being able to take away a closer and deeper relationship with my son, Bill.”

Bill Van Gorp: “I’ve learned a lot about our relationship and how we can make it work a lot smoother.”

Dirk Van Gorp: “He has to wait at the top of the hills for me.”

FATHER AND SON ARE A TEAM NOW, SHARING THEIR FAITH WITH CHURCH GROUPS ALONG THE WAY.

Bill Van Gorp with kids: “We ride about 60 miles every day.”

THROUGH SNOWSTORM AND BLINDING RAIN, THEIR TREK HAS BEEN GRUELING AT TIMES. YET, THE SPIRITUAL REWARDS, THEY SAY, ARE GREAT.

Dirk Van Gorp: “There’s great folks out there that really want to and have a desire to help other people.”

Bill Van Gorp: “And there’s a lot of people that’s do a lot for you just at the drop of the hat. It’s really encouraging and inspiring to me. It’s great.”

Missionaries will tell you the hard work and obvious sacrifice do not compare to what is gained -- the feeling of valuable work, the exposure to other cultures and an intimate understanding of people elsewhere. Nineteen-year-old Harris Tay has been to China and Zimbabwe. The greatest lesson, he feels, has been about leaving his American pride at home and learning to be humble.

When you’re meek and humble, you learn to interact with people on a better level, and you can reach a higher plateau.

We did home stays when we were in Zimbabwe. My experience in Africa was great...the way people lived for community, not for self but for everyone. It helped me to see that life is better like that.

This is one of my pictures from when we were in China. China was the culture shock I was looking for ... new food, new people. It was interesting to hear what they think about America.

Mission is a constant state. Mission is not just a trip you go on, more so a lifestyle.

It’s all about unity, and it’s about growth. It’s all about loving one another, and that’s what mission is truly about.

How do you want your life to be remembered? If we rose every day with that question in mind, most of us would probably live a whole lot differently. Jim Melchiorre knows a man who answers that big question very loudly, without a word. And, as is so often the case with people truly making a difference in this world, this quiet man isn’t much concerned with how he might be remembered, since he’s motivated by the simple fact that after you’re gone, it’s too late anyway.

WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE 10 PEOPLE IN THE WORLD I MOST ADMIRE, NORRIS ALLEN MAKES THE LIST. YEP, A MAN WHO DRIVES A PICKUP TRUCK OUT IN THE COUNTRY AND STILL LIVES ABOUT A MILE FROM THE SITE OF THE HOUSE WHERE HE WAS BORN.

Norris Allen: “I consider myself a country person in Tennessee.”

WELL, APPEARANCES ARE DECEIVING. NORRIS ALLEN HAS MADE 46 OVERSEAS TRIPS IN THE PAST 22 YEARS, PUTTING UP BUILDINGS FOR FREE -- SCHOOLS, HOUSES, CHURCHES, WHEREVER AND WHATEVER THE NEED. 

Norris Allen: “This is my first trip to Belize.”

ON THAT TRIP WITH THE VOLUNTEERS IN MISSION PROGRAM OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, NORRIS HELPED FIX A ROOF. AND GOT TO KNOW PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE WITH VERY LITTLE FRESH WATER, NO ELECTRICITY AND WAGES OF $3 A DAY. IT OPENED HIS EYES; THEN NORRIS OPENED HIS HEART.

Norris Allen: “I had been struggling in my life for something meaningful. Then I realized I had construction skills and that someone in construction could also be in mission.”

CONSTRUCTION SKILLS, WHICH HE'S TAKEN TO JAMAICA, PUERTO RICO, ST. VINCENT, HONDURAS, GRENADA, DOMINICA. I'VE TRAVELED WITH NORRIS AND STILL CAN'T EXPLAIN HOW THIS LOW-KEY GUY CONVINCES PEOPLE TO GIVE UP VACATION, WORK TWO OR FOUR WEEKS IN THE TROPICAL SUN AND NOT ONLY COME HOME HAPPY, BUT COME BACK.

Norris Allen: “When I sit around here in this easy chair, I feel kind of guilty. Why couldn't I go back at least one more time, this time?”

SO, ABOUT THAT QUESTION: “HOW WOULD YOU WANT YOUR LIFE TO BE REMEMBERED?” WELL, DOZENS OF BUILDINGS, USED BY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, SOUND TO ME LIKE A PRETTY GOOD ANSWER.

JIM MELCHIORRE.

Norris Allen has contacts all over the globe now, asking for his help. A simple country boy has become an international example for how one life can be remembered.

On the next UMTV web brief … the changing roles of Fathers.

Thanks for watching; make it a good week.